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AMMAN — It was a glorious start to the 15th AKF Senior Karate Championships for host nation Jordan who won two gold medals and a silver medal on the opening day, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

First to stamp his name on the event, which is hosting 300 fighters from 29 countries, was Bashar Al Najjar who won gold in the -75kg weight, beating Iran’s Ali Asghar Asiabari, 6-1, in the final. His teammate, Abdulrahman Al Masatfah, added a second gold for Jordan in the -67kg category by beating Saudi Arabia’s Faed Al Khathami, 4-0, in the final.

Mahmoud Al Sajjan completed a successful start for the hosts by settling for silver in the -84kg weight after losing his final to Japan’s Araga Yurotara, 5-1.

LONDON - Angelique Kerber became the first German woman to win Wimbledon for 22 years as the 11th seed shattered Serena Williams' bid for Grand Slam history with a shock 6-3, 6-3 victory in Saturday's final.

Kerber avenged her defeat against Williams in the 2016 Wimbledon title match, overwhelming the seven-time champion with a stunning 65-minute upset on Centre Court.

"I knew I had to play my best tennis against a champion like Serena," Kerber said.

"It was my second chance to play in the final. I think I'm the next one after Steffi who won. That's amazing."

Williams had hoped to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles by winning her first major prize since becoming a mother in September.

The 36-year-old, who last won a Grand Slam at the 2017 Australian Open, went into the final as the title favourite, even though she was playing only the fourth tournament of her post-pregnancy comeback.

But instead World No. 10 Kerber sprang a huge surprise, making her Germany's first female champion at the All England Club since Steffi Graf in 1996.

"It's obviously disappointing but I am just getting started," said an emotional Williams after losing in the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2008.

"For all you mums out there I was playing for you. I really tried."

Graf helped Kerber get her game on track earlier in the her career, so it was an especially sweet moment for the 30-year-old to follow in her footsteps at Wimbledon.

Kerber had endured a significant slump last year after wining her previous major titles at the Australian and US Opens in 2016.

But, back to her best on the grass at Wimbledon, she needed only 11 winners and one ace to deny an oddly nervous Serena, who contributed to her own downfall with a whopping 24 unforced errors, compared to only five from Kerber.

In the first Wimbledon final for 41 years to feature two women 30 or older, Serena was cheered on by her friend the Duchess of Sussex, golf legend Tiger Woods and Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton.

Left needing several life-saving operations to deal with the threat of blood clots after Olympia´s birth, Williams was unable to walk for six weeks and even now is still haunted by harrowing flashbacks to that period.

Winning Wimbledon with Olympia at the tournament with her was supposed to be the crowning glory of her return to the top.

But, foreshadowing the pain to come, Serena's 30th Grand Slam final got off to a rocky start as she dropped her serve with four unforced errors in the opening game.

Play had started two hours late due to the conclusion of Novak Djokovic's win over Rafael Nadal in the men´s semifinals, and it was Serena who looked more affected by the delay

She briefly hit back, breaking to love in the fourth game, but then produced another error-strewn effort, including two double faults, to gift a 4-3 lead to Kerber.

Although Williams was on a 20-match winning run at Wimbledon and had lost only one set en route to the final, she was completely out of sorts, spraying wild ground-strokes wide time and again.

Kerber, cleverly moving Serena into awkward positions, took full advantage, winning four games in a row to wrap up the set.

The 11th seed knew what it took to beat Serena in a Grand Slam showpiece after winning their 2016 Australian Open final.

She kept nagging away at Serena and induced more miscues from the American in the sixth game of the second set.

On break point, the left-hander landed the knockout blow with a fierce forehand winner down the line that left Williams grasping in vain to reach it.

When Williams made another mistake to lose the next game, she gestured to her coaching team with a look of despair.

Her agony only increased with a woeful volley that flew long to put Kerber within two points of the title.

Moments later, Serena's misery was complete as a tame return left Kerber wiping away tears of joy.

MOSCOW — Mario Mandzukic struck an extra-time winner as Croatia defeated England 2-1 on Wednesday to advance to the World Cup final for the first time in the country’s history.

Kieran Trippier’s maiden international goal fired England ahead early in Moscow, but Ivan Perisic levelled in the second half before Mandzukic sent Croatia through to a showdown against France on Sunday.

With a population of just over four million, Croatia are the smallest nation to reach the final since Uruguay, the winners of the 1950 tournament.

AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from Croatia’s victory over England:

Extra time hands France further advantage

With the bonus of any extra day’s rest and Croatia having been taken to extra-time for the third time in succession, France will be far the fresher of the two sides in Sunday’s final. 

Following a clinical 1-0 win over Belgium in yesterday’s semifinal, Didier Deschamps’ men have played a staggering 90 fewer minutes than their opponents in the knockout rounds. Croatia, which was beaten in extra-time by Portugal at Euro 2016, became just the second team to go to extra-time in three consecutive World Cup games. 

However, unlike England at the 1990 tournament, it was again third time lucky thanks to Mario Mandzukic’s 109th-minute goal.

Trippier gives weight to Beckham comparison

Former Manchester City reject Kieran Trippier, who grew up idolising David Beckham, conjured up an act of brilliance reminiscent of the former England captain. 

Only Neymar and Kevin De Bruyne have rivalled Trippier in terms of chances created at the World Cup, and the Tottenham defender produced his champagne moment of a breakout tournament for the 27-year-old with England’s opening goal. Trippier’s curling fifth-minute free-kick was his first international goal, a prominent example of the quality of his delivery that has given rise to the “Bury Beckham” moniker, because he was born in Bury near Manchester. 

It was England’s first goal scored directly from a free-kick at the World Cup since Beckham’s winner against Ecuador in 2006, and the team’s 12th goal of the competition — surpassing the 11 they netted en route to lifting the trophy 1966.

Croatia’s turn to break down barriers

England coach Gareth Southgate had spoken of his young side “breaking down barriers” in Russia after its biggest World Cup win and first penalty shootout triumph, but it was Croatia which forced its way into a relatively closed shop as just the 13th different country to progress to the final in 88 years. Spain, the 2010 champions, were the last first-time finalists in what is now the 21st edition of the competition. 

It is an achievement all the more remarkable for a country with a population of little more than 4 million. Only Uruguay — who lifted the inaugural title in 1930, and again in 1950 — has a smaller population among all World Cup finalists.

MOSCOW — Mario Mandzukic scored in the 109th minute as Croatia came from behind to beat England 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday and reach its first World Cup final, where it will face France on Sunday and send the Balkan nation into raptures.

England, appearing in its first semifinal since 1990, had looked on course for its first final since 1966, as it led through Kieran Trippier's fifth-minute free kick and totally dominated the opening half.

Croatia, in its first semi since 1998, levelled through Ivan Perisic after 68 minutes and then looked the more dangerous side.

It stayed level at 90 minutes, meaning Croatia faced extra time for the third successive game, having got past Denmark and Russia on penalties.

But just when it looked as if it would become the first team to appear in three shootouts at a single World Cup, Mandzukic struck with a well-taken low shot.

England had got off to a flying start when Trippier curled a superb free kick into the top corner.

It was his first goal for his country, England's 12th of the tournament and ninth from a set-piece, but it should have added more from open play as it revelled in the space they were being given in the first half.

Harry Kane shot weakly at Danijel Subasic when through, then forced the rebound against a post and Raheem Sterling was a constant thorn in the Croatian defence, though again his final ball was too often astray.

The best chance for a second goal, however, was wasted by an unmarked Jesse Lingard when he curled wide when a goal looked certain.

Croatia had been desperately poor but started to get a foothold in the game as the match rolled past the hour mark and Luka Modric's influence grew.

England paid the price for those early misses when Perisic showed great determination to get in front of Kyle Walker to meet a curling Sime Vrsaljko cross, and though his boot was arguably high, Walker was stooping and there were few complaints.

Perisic should have added another three minutes later when ragged defending presented him with a great shooting chance, but he cannoned the ball against a post.

It was a different game from then on, with Croatia suddenly playing with accuracy and purpose as England lost its shape and composure, though Kane missed a chance to win it in stoppage time when he headed wide from a free kick.

Vrsaljko cleared a John Stones header off the line midway through the first extra period.

But it was Croatia who struck in the 109th minute, when Perisic won a header on the edge of the box and the ball dropped for Mandzukic, whose firm low finish beat Pickford.

England plays Belgium for third place on Saturday.

AMMAN — All-rounder Zain Abdeen has won gold for Jordan at the third West Asian Athletics Championships being hosted at the Amman International Stadium, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. Abdeen clinched the women’s Heptathlon after collecting 3,727 points, followed by Kuwait’s Nadia Al Haqan and Jari Farhan.

This is the second gold for Jordan following Mohammad Al Buhairi’s High Jump gold earlier in the tournament. Jordanian athletes have also added four silver medals to date through Baker Habahbeh (110m hurdles), Ashraf Malkawi (long jump), Shamma Arsheed (javelin) and Nareen Sako (high jump).

Another nine bronze medals have been won by Taima Jafar (long jump), Aliya Bushnaq (400m), Haneen Bakkar (shot put), Muath Turki (110m hurdles), Awwad Al Shorafat (1500m), Ahmmad Al Hawafzah (hammer), Hassan Al Daja (3000 steeplechase) and Nahed Al Rawashdeh (javelin). Bahrain lead the Medals Table following the fourth day of the competition with 17 medals.

REPINO, Russia — Two nations who have been waiting years to put right the bitter memories of World Cup semifinal defeats will face each other on Wednesday in Moscow with the chance to finally go one step further.

England’s last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when it lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany in Turin, while eight years later, in its first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to the host and eventual winners France.

While many outsiders view that unexpected Croatian run to the last four as a great success, inside the country many share the view of the team’s then manager Miroslav Blazevic that it was a missed opportunity.

England too left Italy 28 years ago feeling that the team featuring Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne could have gone all the way.

But neither side are in a mood for nostalgia or using the past as motivation.

While Croatian players, who have been asked constantly about the generation of 1998 and never fail to express their admiration for the likes of Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker, those comparisons are a weight they feel is unneeded.

“We are not putting more pressure on ourselves with what happened in 1998,” said midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

“What they did was impressive but we want to keep writing our own history and enjoy what we are doing which is very positive,” he added.

England’s loss in 1990 was turned into a documentary film and has become a fabled part of the country’s “52 years of pain” since their 1966 World Cup triumph.

But on Monday, defender Ashley Young was quick to dismiss it’s significance.

“We are concentrating on what’s going on now. Not what’s happened in the past. We’re looking forward to the future,” said Young.

Underestimated

Neither team came to Russia being heralded as favourites, but they have produced performances throughout the competition which have shown they were underestimated by the pundits.

Croatia’s 3-0 win over Argentina in the group stage was a clear signal that the team led by midfield maestro Luka Modric was a real threat with its clever passing and movement.

In the quarter-final clash with Russia, the Croats showed a different side, being willing to slug it out with the Russians for 120 minutes before keeping their cool and winning the shootout in such a partisan atmosphere.

England, which made an early impression with a 6-1 crushing of Panama in the group stage, then overcame its shootout hoodoo in beating Colombia in the last 16 and looked composed and mature in the 2-0 quarter-final victory over Sweden.

England should come into the game fresher and it also has the edge in previous meetings, winning four of the seven encounters, including a 5-1 victory in the most recent match — a World Cup qualifier in 2009.

ST PETERSBURG — Roberto Martinez’s swashbuckling Belgium side head into Tuesday’s semifinal with familiar foes France as the World Cup’s leading scorers, but their old rivals has evolved as the tournament has progressed and will also be full of confidence.

Belgium has scored 14 goals in five matches and was hugely impressive in its 2-1 quarter-final victory over Brazil, with Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne combining to devastating effect to oust the five-times world champions.

In contrast, France sleep-walked through the group stages, eking out wins over Australia and Peru before a stultifying 0-0 draw with Denmark.

Their early struggles had ‘Les Bleus’ being written off in some quarters, but all that changed when they faced Argentina in the last 16 in what must be a leading contender for the most exciting match of the tournament.

Didier Deschamps tweaked his formation, effectively freeing up Kylian Mbappe on the right to run at the Argentine defence, and what followed was a wonderful display of attacking football that France won 4-3.

The victory boosted France’s morale, and they followed it up with a workman-like 2-0 win over Uruguay that was impressive because of how well they managed to control the game against tricky opponents.

Belgium faced a heart-stopping moment of uncertainty in the first knockout round against Japan, when Martinez’s decision to rest players in its final group match against England almost backfired spectacularly.

Belgium’s returning first team players made a sluggish start against the Samurai Blue and suddenly found themselves trailing by two goals with time ebbing away.

Stung into action, Martinez sent on Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli in the 65th minute, and both were heavily involved as Belgium pulled off a late comeback, with Chadli securing victory with practically the last kick of the game.

Against Brazil in the quarters, Martinez showed tactical adventure, as he pushed target man Lukaku to the wing to allow De Bruyne to operate as a ‘false nine’. The strategy worked, and De Bruyne scored his first goal in Russia.

Tuesday’s clash in St Petersburg has all the makings of a classic, with fans and viewers likely to be treated to the sight of two wonderfully attacking teams going toe-to-toe.

“It’s a super exciting game with great players on both sides,” France defender Benjamin Pavard said. “It’s going to be a man’s match and we will have to step up.”

France, world champions in 1998, is slight favourites to go through according to most bookmakers, but Belgium tends to step up its game against these particular European rivals, if history is anything to go by.

Of the 73 meetings between the teams, Belgium have won 30 and France 24, with 19 draws between them.

SILVERSTONE, England — Sebastian Vettel won the British Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday to deny Lewis Hamilton a fifth successive home victory, and move eight points clear at the top of the Formula One standings.

In a race with two late safety car periods, reigning champion Hamilton went from pole position to the rear of the field before finishing second for Mercedes in a superb fightback.

The Briton appeared drained by the effort, and deeply unimpressed by a first-lap collision with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen that sent him spinning to the back.

Raikkonen ended up a close third, after incurring a ten-second penalty.

The win was Vettel’s fourth of the season, 51st of his career, and once-dominant champions Mercedes’ first defeat at Silverstone since 2012 before the V6 turbo hybrid era started.

“You’re a lion,” the elated team told him over the radio at the chequered flag as they celebrated Ferrari’s first win in Britain since 2011.

“I was a bit concerned going into the race but I was fine, probably a bit of adrenaline,” said the German, who had struggled with a neck strain on Saturday.

“The neck held up and that was a race I enjoyed a lot and I think the people enjoyed it a lot.”

Hamilton was on a charge from the first lap, back up to seventh after nine laps but still 26 seconds behind his fellow four-times world champion.

The appearance of the safety car on the 33rd of 52 laps, after Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashed at Abbey, was greeted with a huge cheer from the 140,500 crowd who had already cheered Hamilton’s every overtake.

Vettel and Raikkonen pitted but Mercedes kept their drivers out, assuring Hamilton that he was “the fastest guy by miles” with everything to play for on tyres that would last the distance.

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas led and might have won but for a second safety car, after Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Haas’s Romain Grosjean collided, that kept the front four nose to tail and only fractions apart.

Greatest race

Vettel passed Bottas at Brooklands five laps from the end, with the Finn’s tyres fading, and Hamilton was also through a lap later and the chase was on to the finish with the German winning by 2.2 seconds.

“This is the greatest race of the year and the greatest crowd, I am sorry I could not bring it home for you today,” Hamilton told the crowd. “I will not give up, believe me, I will not give up.

“My team did an amazing job this weekend, we got so much support. Interesting tactics I would say from their side [Ferrari], but we’ll do what we can to fight them.”

Raikkonen held his hand up and admitted he had made a mistake.

“At the third corner I locked the wheel so I ended up hitting Lewis on the rear corner. He spun, my bad,” said the 2007 world champion.

“It was my mistake. I deserved it,” he added of the penalty. “I took the ten seconds and kept fighting.”

Bottas was fourth with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo fifth and Nico Hulkenberg sixth for Renault. Frenchman Esteban Ocon finished seventh for Force India, who are now level on points with McLaren and ahead on podiums.

Fernando Alonso was eighth for McLaren ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the Haas and Pierre Gasly taking the final point for Toro Rosso.

Monaco’s Charles Leclerc had also been on course to score for Sauber but was ordered to stop after an unsafe release from the pits while in eighth place.

Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen, winner in Austria last weekend, retired with a brake problem while running in fifth place.

Croatia ended Russia's unlikely World Cup dream when it won 4-3 on penalties to eliminate the gallant host after a dramatic quarter-final ended 2-2 after extra time on Saturday.

Ivan Rakitic stroked home the winning penalty to send Croatia into a semifinal against England after a night of unremitting tension in Sochi, ending the remarkable campaign of a team ranked 70th in the world.

Fyodor Smolov saw Russia's first penalty saved by Danijel Subasic and, although Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved a Mateo Kovacic kick, the hosts' fate was sealed when Mario Fernandes fired completely wide from their third attempt.

In the previous 120 minutes, Denis Cheryshev rifled Russia in front with a long-range thunderbolt, his fourth goal of the tournament, in the 31st minute before Andrej Kramaric headed Croatia level six minutes before halftime.

Croatia then went ahead with a soft header in the eleventh minute of extra time but Brazilian-born Fernandes headed the hosts level with five minutes of play remaining to send the game to penalties.

Russia had already surpassed expectations by reaching the last eight, ousting Spain on the way.

After a lively opening, the game dropped off, with sessions of head tennis in midfield, but it was Russia's more rustic approach which paid off first as they went ahead out of the blue.

Cheryshev collected the ball near the halfway line, exchanged passes with Artem Dzyuba and curled a 25-metre shot past Subasic.

But slack defending allowed Croatia to level eight minutes later. Mario Mandzukic ran unchallenged into the penalty area and chipped a low ball back into the centre where unmarked Kramaric scored with a glancing header.

Croatia was agonisingly close to scoring on the hour when Russia's defence failed to clear the ball and Ivan Perisic's shot hit the inside of the post but rebounded harmlessly across the face of the goal.

Croatia appeared to have the tie in the bag after Vida's extra-time goal until Fernandes rose to head in a free kick and send both teams to their second penalty shootout of the tournament.

28 year wait over

Headers from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli fired an impressive England into the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 28 years after it eased its way to a 2-0 victory over a dogged but disappointing Sweden on Saturday.

Maguire opened the scoring in the 30th minute at the Samara Arena and Alli doubled the lead after the break as Gareth Southgate's young squad continued to defy dampened pre-tournament expectations with another confident display.

For once it was not Harry Kane who claimed the plaudits as the tournament's top scorer was kept quiet, but England found another hero at the other end of the pitch as Jordan Pickford produced three superb saves to shut out the workmanlike Swedes.

Croatia, lower ranked than Gareth Southgate's side, is all that stands between England and a first World Cup final since it lifted the trophy in 1966.

Sweden had reached the quarter-finals by making life hard for supposedly superior opponents and it was easy to see why after a dour opening when England looked incapable of stringing passes together against their hardworking opponents.

It was predictable in many ways, therefore, that the deadlock was broken from a set piece.

England had laboured without reward before Ashley Young lined up a corner on the left and his curled effort was met by Maguire charging forward with conviction and barging Emil Forsberg out of his way to power a header down into the net.

That was England's eighth set-piece goal at this World Cup, but, while they are seemingly lethal from dead balls, apart from Kane they are not blessed with too many other sharp shooters.

The killer blow arrived in the 59th minute as Jesse Lingard's teasing cross into the box was met by Alli unmarked at the far post to head powerfully past Olsen.

England had not kept a clean sheet in their four previous matches and had Pickford to thank for ensuring it did not concede this time.